New Bella Edwards POV
by drgnfly23
Summary: This is the story of Bella's transformation through the first hunt through Edwards POV. Three chapters only.
1. Pain and Happiness

No, I'm not Stephenie Meyer, no I do not own Twilight. I am glad she allows us to play with her imaginary friends, aren't you? So much better than Barbie and Ken...

1. Pain and Happiness

She wasn't writhing and she wasn't screaming. Where was the screaming? This was torturing me, more than if she had been screaming. I wanted to scream for her, but I was afraid it would alarm her. At least if she were screaming I would know she was in pain. The nothingness was unbearable. Even her fingers weren't twitching. I hadn't killed her, at least I didn't think I had, I could still hear her heartbeat. It was there, the only sound in the room, other than the sounds of her breathing.

For the third time in my married life to my angel I wished I could sob. I would be sobbing uncontrollably for the pain I put her through. I was a monster through and through and now she was turning into one as well, because of me. I knew she desired this, but I wished I could burn for her. I'd burn for a hundred years if she didn't have to go through this for herself. Once again, I probed her mind, hoping her guard was slipping; maybe, just maybe I could start to hear her thoughts. I ached to know how much pain she was going through. I hit that same solid wall of silence. It was deafening.

Alice came to help me clean up the bloody mess and put clothes on Bella once I had finished forcing venom into her veins. She would appreciate not being seen naked by the rest of the family. But I argued with her about the tightly fitted ice-blue silk dress, and stiletto heels. She reminded me that Bella once thought this would be a black tie affair. Alice pouted when Carlisle and Esme put their feet down about having the rest of us wear tuxes and formals for when she woke up.

_She'll thank me later. _Somehow I doubted that. Bella would have preferred sweats and a t-shirt. Her comfort was on my mind and I was sure she wasn't comfortable in whatever Alice had put her in.

I sat there watching her. It's all I could do. I held her hand, I wasn't sure if she could feel my hand. I remembered the pain of my transformation. Those were the longest three days of my existence. I remembered my screaming, my writhing; my begging for death. I remembered how Carlisle buried himself in rotting potatoes and suffered through his transformation in silence. His was out of necessity; he didn't want his father to find him. Bella didn't need to hide. We all ached to know what kind of pain she was in. As much as it would torture us, we wanted to hear her make some kind of noise; that she was still with us. Why wasn't she screaming? Everyone's thoughts in the house echoed mine. We had all braced ourselves to hear the torment from Bells lips. We had decided to stay in the house to comfort her as she burned. We were more tortured as we never heard a sound from her. Not even a twitch of pain from her littlest finger.

The only thing that tore me away from watching her in silent pain was our daughter. I had created a baby, a baby I almost destroyed. Now that she was here, I would kill myself before I let someone hurt her. Just when I thought I could only hold love for my Bella, my dead heart swelled again to hold more love for another girl, Renesmee.

Renesmee had a gift, we discovered this shortly after her birth. Rosalie had given her her first bath, as she was cuddling with her, Renesmee lifted her tiny hand to Rosalie's neck to show her what just happened to her. She replayed her birth and her bath. She showed her the warmth of the water and how it felt good to her. She showed Rosalie her mother while asking where she was. Rosalie was shocked, to say the least. We all were. We were all taken in by this new angel in our life. Just when we thought our existences couldn't be affected any more by Bella, the human in my life, she brought us another gift. My daughter. I loved that, even as a vampire, I had given life to someone. My _life _was complete. Whatever god looks over immortal creatures blessed me three times; once with Carlisle, twice with Bella, and now a third with Renesmee. I would forever be grateful for the blessings in my life. But like every blessing in my life, there was an undercurrent of turmoil to those blessings. As we all loved Renesmee, so Jacob loved her the most. That mongrel had the audacity to _imprint _on our lovely baby. He was never going to leave her side. His dog smell scent would forever linger on her; this was something I had not taken into consideration. No one did. The treaty was officially broken now that he had imprinted on a half breed.

I never left Bella's side; someone would bring my beautiful, gifted daughter to me. I requested that Jacob never come into this room, I couldn't stand to see him, first Bella and now Renesmee. This was my own personal hell.

_"She's asking for her daddy," _Esme brought her up to me this time. Daddy. That's something I'd never expected to hear, especially directed towards me; that thought always made me glow. Esme and Carlisle were beyond ecstatic to be called Grandma and Grandpa. Though, at their age, Mimi and Papa, seemed more fitting. As I held my daughter I hummed Bella's lullaby to her. I wanted to show her how beautiful her mother was-_is_-I corrected myself. I didn't want to think of her in past tense until I absolutely had to. That thought made the ghost of a whole ripple with memories of the first time I thought I'd lost Bella. Even with our daughter here, I couldn't live without Bella. I fought back tearless sobs as I held my baby and watched Bella in her unmoving struggle to accept this life. I was torn, once again, between right and wrong. Everything about this was so wrong, but it felt so right in my world.

Somewhere during the night I heard Bella's heartbeat speed up. Carlisle heard it, too, from somewhere in the house. He rushed up to my side. I looked at him with pained eyes. He used his stethoscope to check her heart.

_"There's nothing I can do for her, Edward. She's changing. The morphine seemed to have worked, you gave her enough, she's not in any pain, see? If she were we would all know it," _Carlisle thought towards me.

I nodded at him, I couldn't answer. I only hoped the morphine was the reason for the silent suffering she was going through. It pained me I couldn't hear her thoughts, I would feel better if I could at least have that much. To hear her internal screaming would make me feel better, maybe, maybe not. I wasn't sure if I'd rather hear her internally or if I needed her screams to fill the heavy silence of the house. Even Emmett didn't joke during this time. We all loved Bella, we all wanted her around; we all felt like we were at a funeral. I wasn't the only one she had altered, she touched all of our lives, and none of us could ever dream not having her around. No one wanted to talk, but the silence needed to be broken with something. The TV was turned on for background noise; no one really watched it though.

Occasionally Alice would sit with me, her visions would flip to the future, but Bella wasn't present in those visions. That pained me more. The fissure in my chest threatened to open up again. I couldn't imagine my life without Bella, I tried to for six months and that was pure hell on my heart, it made me feel hollow. I felt hollow now, even with her near, even with her heart strongly beating, she was a shell of herself, this was worse than when she was in a coma after James attacked her. I wanted to read her eyes to see what kind of pain she was feeling. But I couldn't. Other than holding her hand I didn't dare touch her. I was afraid my touch would bring her pain to the forefront and then the screaming would commence.

Carlisle came in again during the day. "Still no change?"

"None," I said quietly, with sadness in my voice.

Carlisle leaned in to smell her still pulsing throat. "There's no scent of the morphine left," he assured me.

"I know," I said, trying to hide my anguish. I only hoped that she wasn't in any pain. I had no clue.

"Bella? Can you hear me?" Carlisle asked her in a subdued tone.

She didn't answer. She didn't move. She didn't twitch. This was killing me. I wanted something. I was ready to hear screaming, I was ready to hear panting, I was ready to hear something, anything, other than this painful, deafening silence.

"Bella? Bella, love? Can you open your eyes? Can you squeeze my hand?" I was anxious, I hoped if she heard me coaxing her out of her silence she would make some noise or at least squeeze my hand. I wanted her to know I was here for her. I couldn't leave her. I had hurt her, again. My worst fears were surfacing, I was too late. She was slowly dying and her body was shutting down never to wake, mortal or immortal.

My voice was heavy with anguish as I voiced my concern, "Maybe...Carlisle, maybe I was too late."

"Listen to her heart, Edward." Carlisle reassured me. "It's stronger than even Emmett's was. I've never heard anything so _vital. _She'll be perfect." _No, I'm proud of you, she really will be perfect._

She already was perfect. But I had to be selfish and have her for myself. I had broken her. I wanted to know about her other injuries from that torturous birth of our daughter. I had to know if she would be okay.

"And her—her spine?" I felt my voice crack at this. I couldn't imagine her broken again.

"Her injuries weren't so much worse than Esme's. The venom will heal her as it did Esme," Carlisle patted my shoulder as he said this.

"But she's so still," I argued. "I _must_ have done something wrong," I conceded. I was always doing something wrong with her.

Carlisle kept his hand on my shoulder, in an attempt to comfort me. "Or something right, Edward. Son, you did everything I could have done and more. I'm not sure I would have had the persistence, the faith it took to save her. Stop berating yourself. Bella is going to be fine."

I could only whisper my earlier thoughts, "she must be in agony."

"We don't know that. She had so much morphine in her system. We don't know the effect that will have on her experience."

I had to reassure her that I was still there. I remembered my agonizing change all too well, "Bella, I love you. Bella, I'm sorry." And I was so sorry. Sorry again for ever meeting her, for being selfish and wanting her for myself, sorry for leaving her, sorry for impregnating her, and sorry for this hell I knew she was going through.

As I apologized a thought flitted across my mind. Was this her final act of human selflessness? She was in utter agony and to spare me she wasn't screaming or writhing in her burning pain. She was holding it in. I hoped I was wrong, that the morphine really had helped with the pain, but I had a feeling that she was holding it all in to spare my feelings, my regret and my sorrow. Always so selfless, her soul was beautiful. I was going to miss that about her.

Carlisle hadn't left; he was still looking over Bella with me. I didn't want him to leave me just yet. I needed someone else in that room. The rest of the family was downstairs. The dog was there, too, he wasn't going to leave us, ever.

_"Edward, I know Bella can hear us, I don't want to say this out loud. Sam needs you downstairs to interpret for them. They don't want to be in human form to work out Jacob's imprinting," _Carlisle said to me in my head.

"No, I'm staying right here," I whispered hoping her ears didn't pick that up. "They'll sort it out."

"An interesting situation. And I'd thought I'd seen just about everything." _Who would have thought Jacob would have imprinted on your half-human half-vampire offspring?_

"I'll deal with it later." I didn't want to deal with it by myself; I couldn't think like that, I had to amend that thought. "_We'll _deal with it." I squeezed Bella's hand again. I needed her to know we were still in this together. I was still with her, I couldn't leave her.

"I'm sure, between the five of us, we can keep it from turning to bloodshed."

I sighed as I considered the different arguments Rosalie and Jacob were having, "I don't know which side to take. I'd love to flog them both. Well, later," I still wasn't leaving my Bella to suffer alone.

"I wonder what Bella will think—whose side she'll choose," Carlisle said with a smile in voice.

I couldn't help chuckling at this thought. "I'm sure she'll surprise me. She always does."

Carlisle left to take care of the wolf problem downstairs.

I went back to pondering what I would miss about Bella. I would definitely miss her flushing red, to watch her blood swirl beneath the surface of her pale skin, and the aroma her blood had. But I wouldn't miss fighting off the monster within to take her life. The monster won. But since we had collected my venom in a syringe I didn't have to bite her too much, but fighting the monster off to not drain her was the hardest part.

I would miss her soul. I just knew that was going to be missing. This is what I feared the most about changing her. I sat there watching the steady rise and fall of her chest and the sound of her thumping heartbeat. I would definitely miss that. But to have her more durable, I couldn't wait to show her all of my love, to be able to not hold back with her. I couldn't wait for our first real kiss. If she thought what we had before was bliss, she would be surprised what she was missing. I would be surprised at what I was missing. I mused on that thought for awhile. It helped keep my sanity as she silently suffered.

I heard Alice come up the stairs.

"How much longer?" I asked as she entered the room. I was panicking; I didn't know how much longer I could take this torture. She was hurting; I needed her to not hurt anymore. I knew that now, she was staying silent for my benefit. I would have to talk to her about that later. But did it matter? Maybe I didn't want to know how much she suffered. I was sure Carlisle would pepper her with questions, I'd let him ask as much as he needed to know, I wouldn't add to it. It would add to my sorrow and pain of hurting her.

"It won't be long now. See how clear she's becoming? I can see her so much better," she said as she sighed. I saw into Alice's mind, and I could see Bella. She was never this focused before in her mind. Renesmee, on the other hand, she couldn't see at all, this frustrated Alice to no end. She was getting bitter about it. I had to tease her. It helped take my mind off the suffering.

"Still feeling a little bitter?"

"Yes, thanks so much for bringing it up. You would be mortified too, if you realized that you were handcuffed by your own nature. I see vampires best, because I am one; I see humans okay, because I was one. But I can't see these odd half-breeds at all because they're nothing I've experienced. Bah!"

I had made her vision slip from Bella with that distraction; I wanted to focus on that. I wanted to see her again, alive.

"Focus, Alice," I urged.

"Right. Bella's almost too easy to see now."

This made me sigh, I was content. I could see her through Alice, she was much clearer and I was happy I did do something right by her. Though, it still pained me to have her changed at all. "She's really going to be fine," I smiled as I said this.

"Of course she is," Alice snapped at me.

"You weren't so sanguine two days ago."

"I couldn't _see _right two days ago. But now that she's free of all the blind spots, it's a piece of cake."

I needed to know how soon she'd wake up. I was being selfishly impatient; I had to know when I could hold her again. I glanced up at Alice after looking at Bella, "Could you concentrate for me? On the clock—give me an estimate."

"So impatient," Alice said as she sighed at me. "Fine, give me a sec-"

I waited while her visions swirled and solidified. I was ecstatic, two more hours to endure her suffering; my suffering. I was never more grateful to have a sister who could see the future as I was at this moment. "Thank you, Alice," I said with renewed hope.

"She's going to be dazzling," Alice murmured to me.

This made me mad, she never was anything but dazzling to me, I wanted Alice to know that, "She always has been," I growled at her quietly, I knew Bella's hearing was getting better.

"You know what I mean! Look at her."

I was looking at her. It's what I had been doing for two days straight. Never moving, other than to squeeze her hand and to pray to whatever god vampires pray to in time of comfort. But Alice was right; Bella was becoming more radiant, if that were possible.

Downstairs Rosalie was sitting impatiently next to Emmett while he watched the Mariners baseball game. She was trying to get Renesmee back from Jacob. I reflected on the earlier conversation I'd had with Carlisle. What would Bella say? Now she'd always have _her_ Jacob around, how would she feel about that? I couldn't be sure. Would she snap his head off? I certainly wanted to. How the hell did that happen? I questioned for the hundredth time since the birth. Of all the people in the world, that mongrel imprinted on_ our_ daughter. Would Bella accept him as a future son-in-law, to always have him in our family? I knew whatever she would do and say, she would surprise me.

I sat there contemplating the transformation, her exquisite beauty and the troubles that were about to ensue when her heartbeat started racing.

"Carlisle." I said calmly, though I wanted to frantically run down the stairs and find him. Something was happening to Bella. Carlisle and Alice soon came in.

"Listen," I said to him. I stopped my breathing so they could be sure to hear her quickening heartbeat.

"Ah, it's almost over," Carlisle said.

"Soon!" Alice agreed. "I'll go get the others. Should we have Rosalie..." _stay downstairs with Renesmee? _

"Yes—keep the baby away," I didn't need my new bloodthirsty wife attacking our newborn. I had two newborns now...her fingers twitched, causing me to lose my train of thought. The first movement I'd seen in two days from Bella. I frantically glanced at Alice, then Carlisle. He nodded at Alice so she could get the family. She didn't immediately run away, she was in the same shock as I, waiting for the next movement.

I wanted something more, now that I knew she could move I knew she could hear me, "Bella? Bella, love?"

Alice finally broke from her shocked stupor. "I'll bring them right up," Alice said as she dashed from the room. We didn't know how out of control Bella was going to be. But we had agreed we wanted the whole family there, sans Rosalie and Renesmee, to reassure her that we were still here for her. She needed us.

Her heart was beating faster and louder, like she was running a marathon, her heart racing to keep up with the blood her body needed. But her body was about to crave a new kind of blood. Suddenly her back arched high off the hospital bed, it landed back with a thud on the table. The first time in two days any part of her body had moved, other than the minor hand twitch a moment ago. I was frantic again. Was she hurting? Was this the end?

The rest of my family was back in the room, against the far wall by the door, Esme and Alice in the back, Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper in front, ready to help me, if help was needed when she awoke. Rosalie had muted the TV; she wanted to be able to hear her new sister wake up. We were all holding our breath. We didn't know what to expect. Bella had been mentally preparing herself for this for two years. Would she jump off the bed, screaming, never to return to us and wreak havoc all over Forks? No, we wouldn't, couldn't allow that. We had to be ready to show her our way of feeding, the _vegetarian_ way.

Her heart stopped. It thudded once more, twice more and then nothing. There was total silence. We all stopped breathing waiting for Bella to awake in her new life.

_"Ready, Edward? She's about to open her eyes," _Alice told me with wide smile. She was more excited than anyone to finally have her sister back.

Bella's blood red eyes slowly opened, staring straight up. I was going to miss those deep chocolate brown eyes, too.


	2. New Bella

No, still not Ms. Meyer and no, still not the owner of Twilight. Hmmmm, think someone will bite me to transform me into her? Hehehe, just kidding, there is only one brilliant Stephenie Meyer. Now, if her imaginary friends would leave me the hell alone...

2. New Bella

Bella looked straight up, staring at the light, like she hadn't seen a light before. I knew what she was looking at. She could finally really see. The bright colors, the way we can see a filament in a light bulb, it's disconcerting at first. But after awhile it's all we know. I watched her eyes as she followed the dust float in the air; I kept her hand in mine.

She inhaled; her first unneeded breath. We all exhaled, and started breathing again, to smell any danger in the air, but there wasn't any, not really. But as a newborn she would think there was. Bella was quiet as she took it all in. She startled as a car went by on the freeway, blaring the rap music, background noise to us.

I squeezed her hand, letting her know I was still here for her. She froze; then she spun off the bed, detaching our hands; she crouched, ready to defend herself. What was she thinking? I still couldn't hear her thoughts. I was just as frustrated as before.

_"Get ready, Edward, in case she attacks," _Jasper warned me.

She straightened up just as quickly as she had crouched down. My hand was still reaching over the table, I was nervous and anxious. Was this still my same Bella? She held my gaze, but I could see was taking everything else in. I saw Alice beaming at her out of the corner of my eye. I watched as she jerkily moved her body. Again, this was disconcerting, the superhuman way we can move. She gasped.

"Bella?" I asked her, I needed her to say something.

_"Steady Edward," _Carlisle warned me, _"let her get her bearings, this is all new to her, let her take it all in."_

We all watched as she warily took in her surrounding, yet never breaking her gaze with me. Was she challenged by me? Was she contemplating taking me out, finally pissed off enough at me for hurting her for the last time?

Her silence was killing me. "Bella, love? I'm sorry, I know it's disorienting. But you're all right. Everything is fine," I assured her, hoping she would start speaking to me, Alice or someone.

Her face displayed a million emotions all at once. Why wasn't she talking? I had to touch her; I ever so slowly reached my hand further to stroke her cheek. I had to feel her skin. It was smooth as satin, soft as a feather and the same temperature as mine. She didn't feel too warm to me anymore. She then started to tremble. Did I hurt her? No, she's durable now, I reminded myself. Why is she trembling? I cupped my hand around her cheek, not wanting to let her go. Ugh, her silence was unnerving! Had I made her mute in her transformation? I arched my eyebrow as I thought back to what I had done to change her, wondering if I had damaged her throat. But even if I had, the venom would have repaired that damage.

Her arms darted out to hug me in a bear hug that would rival Emmett's. Not that I needed to breathe, but she was choking me, her strength was unbearable. I shifted a little, hoping to alleviate the hold she had on me. Her gaze looked hurt that I was shifting away from her. "Um...carefully, Bella. Ow," She was hurting _me. _

She yanked her arms back and away from me. "Oops," she finally spoke. Her voice was like bells, I smiled, glad that she found her voice. I wanted to hear it again.

"Don't panic, love. You're just a bit stronger that I am for the moment," I said as I raised my hand to touch those kissable lips. Her eyebrows puckered in that signature V as she contemplated what she had just done. I stroked her cheek again, I couldn't stop touching her. Then her V smoothed out as another emotion flickered across her face. Distress? What was going on in her mind, I asked myself, again. I watched her as she again focused on me. Her red eyes stared into my golden eyes...

"I love you," she said.

"As I love you," I smiled, she wasn't mad at me, she wasn't hurt, and she still loved me. I couldn't contain myself anymore, I took her face into both of my hands; I slowly approached her face and lips hesitantly, as our first kiss should have been, calculating, hesitant, as man kisses a woman for the first time to gauge the right response. I then kissed her like I had always wanted to kiss her. No barriers, no fear of her getting too close to my teeth. I kissed her with a fierceness and urgency that I was never able to do before. This made my heart swell to finally show her the intensity of my love for her. She reciprocated and started curving herself, almost seductively, around me.

Emmett cleared his throat, _"dude, can't you wait until we're out of the room to do this?" _This made me chuckle, it felt good to finally smile and be happy again. No, I was beyond happy, is that possible? She would forever make me question possible verses impossible.

Bella stepped away from me. She wasn't getting away from me that easily, I stepped with her. She took a breath, as if to settle some nerves. She would have blushed, if she were able. I would definitely miss that, but being able to kiss her that passionately, it was worth the trade off. I smiled down at her.

"You've been holding out on me," she mused.

I laughed louder this time, I was exuberant and I couldn't contain it. "It was sort of necessary at the time, now it's your turn to not break _me_," I laughed again. I couldn't help it. She was here, with me, and our love was unaffected.

She frowned for a second, and then laughed with me. Her laugh was nothing I'd ever heard before; it was still the same Bella laugh, only clearer, like singing.

_"I'm going to talk to her now, love bird," _Carlisle thought towards me, as he made his way slowly to Bella. Jasper was shadowing him, testing the air for any sign of distress from Bella.

"How do you feel, Bella?" Carlisle asked her.

She considered this briefly, "Overwhelmed. There's so much..." her voice trailed, like she didn't know it was her talking.

"Yes, it can be quite confusing."

She nodded her head, jerkily, again. "But I feel like me. Sort of. I didn't expect that."

I hugged her tighter to me, "I told you so," I whispered, to reassure her that she would still be Bella. My silly, beautiful, dazzling Bella.

"You are quite controlled," Carlisle mused. "More so than _I _expected, even with the time you had to prepare yourself mentally for this." _This is most fascinating, how is she not growling at us or running out the door or looking for something to attack..._

"I'm not sure about that," she whispered, cutting off his internal questions.

Carlisle nodded again, "It seems like we did something right with the morphine this time. Tell me, what do you remember of the transformation process?" _Yes, the morphine is the key. If I ever need to do this again, I'll be sure to keep that in mind._

She hesitated before saying, "Everything was...very dim before. I remember the baby couldn't breathe..." then she looked at me, her eyes filled with questions and fear.

"Renesmee is healthy and well," I assured her, my eyes lit up as I thought of our beautiful baby girl downstairs. "What else do you remember?" I wanted to know as badly as Carlisle now.

"It's hard to remember," she said with a straight face, but I thought there was a trace of a lie there. "It was so dark before. And then...I opened my eyes and I could see _everything._"

"Amazing," Carlisle said with wonder. I want you to think—to tell me everything you remember," Carlisle pressed. Bella grimaced at that. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Bella. Of course your thirst must be very uncomfortable. This conversation can wait."

She brought her hand up to her throat; I dropped my arms from around her but took her free hand, pulling her from the room, "Let's hunt, Bella." I was finally ready for her to see me hunt, now that the fear of losing my senses and attacking her were gone. I was excited at the prospect of never having to leave her again, for anything. I watched her again, her eyes grew wider and wider. She was obviously nervous about her first time hunting. "It's quite easy, love. Instinctual. Don't worry, I'll show you," I said to calm her down. She still didn't move, I smiled remembering one of our first conversations, "I was under the impression that you'd always _wanted_ to see me hunt."

She laughed at this. I still hadn't stopped looking at her face, her expressions reflected thoughtfulness as she remembered our conversation about my hunting.

"Shall we?" I asked as I took her other hand that was cupped around her neck. I was starting to worry that she would be hurting, I voiced this with her, "I don't want you to be hurting," I said this under my breath, testing her new hearing.

She had heard it. "I'm fine. Wait. First," she stopped me. What could possibly be more important than quenching that unquenchable thirst?

"Yes?" _How is she not in pain? _Carlisle answered her; I was still contemplating the reason behind the wait.

"I want to see her. Renesmee," she requested. Her hands were out of mine and pressed against her now flat stomach. She clutched at her dress as if trying to cradle our baby that was no longer there.

I glanced at Carlisle, warily.

_"Not a good idea, Edward. Do not give her this yet. Let her get satiated first. Renesmee is part human, she would hate herself for killing her baby; after all she suffered through to bring her to life."_

"What?" Bella demanded through our silent conversation.

I used my soft, velvet voice on her; one I knew would calm her down, "Bella, that's not really a good idea. She's half human, love. Her heart beats, and blood runs through her veins. Until your thirst is positively under control...You don't want to put her in danger, do you?"

She frowned at this revelation. "Where is she?" she finally asked. "Is Rosalie with her?"

_No, Jacob has her._ "Yes," I lied to her curtly; I didn't want to bring this up yet. I needed her desire for blood controlled before I let her know of the imprinting. I tugged at her hands still at her stomach.

"Wait!" she stopped me again. "What about Jacob? And Charlie? Tell me everything that I missed. How long was I...unconscious?"

She would ask about Jacob, I looked at Carlisle again.

_"Don't tell her, Edward, she's not ready to hear it."_

"What's wrong?" Bella pleaded with me.

"Nothing is _wrong, _nothing has changed much, actually—you were only unaware for just over two days. It was very fast as these things go. Edward did an excellent job. Quite innovative—the venom injection straight to your heart was his idea." Carlisle stopped to smile at me _that was a very clever idea, definitely saved time on the changing. I'll remember that in the future as well. _"Jacob is still here," Carlisle continued, "and Charlie still believes that you are sick. He thinks you're in Atlanta right now, undergoing tests at the CDC. We gave him a bad number, and he's frustrated. He's been speaking to Esme." _More like shouting..._

"I should call him...," her voice trailing again before realization hit of what Carlisle said, "Hold on—Jacob is still here?"

_Oh, man, this is going to get good now! _Emmett thought, excitedly.

_Don't tell her, Edward, _Carlisle thought. I knew he was right, I just wish I knew what her response was going to be. And since Alice couldn't see Jacob in the future, even she didn't know that outcome. I was nervous. I needed to distract her before she demanded she see him.

"Bella, there's much to discuss, but we should take care of you first. You have to be in pain..." I speculated again. How was she not hurting? This was driving me insane!

"But Jacob-" she interrupted. Always so difficult, always so stubborn, she was starting to rival Rosalie's tenacity.

"We have all the time in the world for explanations, love," I stated. And we did. I absolutely, with certainty, had forever with her. Forever held a whole new meaning for me.

_Edward, let me get a mirror first! _"Wait, wait, wait!" Alice commanded of us, while Bella stared, rather, gaped, at Alice. She was seeing all of us for the first time, really seeing us. "You promised I could be there the first time? What if you two run past something reflective?" _I want to see her see herself for the first time. I want to see her reaction. You'll love it too, but be careful, she's going to snap._

"Alice-" I protested. I really needed to get her hunting, and soon. And I didn't want her temper to flare this early into her new life.

"It will only take a second!" _Pipe down; it's not going to be that bad!_ Alice ran from the room before I could grab her. What an annoying little sister.

I sighed.

"What is she talking about?" Bella asked me, but before I could answer Alice had returned with one of Rosalie's mirrors, and not just any of her mirrors, the biggest one she owned, full length. Alice liked to go grand.

Jasper moved towards Alice, he had to make sure his love was safe. I read in his thoughts that Bella was shocked as she finally saw Jasper for the first time in all of his bitten glory. He was something to see with his scarred stone skin. Her eyes roved over his exposed skin.

_I don't think she's going to attack, but she's finally scared. I'm sorry Edward; I know it's me, again. I won't do anything to provoke her, but if she attacks, I'll have to defend myself and Alice. _Jasper said to me as he smiled to Bella. I knew he was right. His scarred skin was something to fear, if one didn't know him like our family did. And to human eyes, his scars are nearly invisible. I remembered back to when Jasper showed Bella a few scars on his arm, under the light. She really didn't grasp what he truly looked like to vampires. She was seeing him for the first time, and she was shocked. I only hoped she didn't attack him. Though, he would get his payback from her nearly fatal 18th birthday party.

"Edward gave me grief for not getting you to a mirror before the wedding, I'm not going to be chewed out again," _well, I know you didn't, but I needed to distract her._

I played along, she was doing this to help Bella, "Chewed out?" I asked with my eyebrow raised at her with mock skepticism.

"Maybe I'm overstating things," _thanks for playing along. _

"And maybe this has solely to do with your own voyeuristic gratification," I teased. If she was going to open the door, I was going to walk in and say what I could. She winked back at me as Bella stared at herself. Alice was right to let her see herself. Her eyes roved, as they did at our wedding reception, from the tip of her toes to her face. She lingered on her face, hair, lips, and nose, before focusing on her bright red eyes. She stopped. They grew in horror.

Jasper assessed her moods as she examined herself. _She's happy...no, she's scared and stressed. Edward, this probably wasn't a good idea. _

"The eyes?" Bella asked in calm panicked voice.

I didn't want to feed into her horrorstruck feeling, I used my soothing voice again, "They'll darken up in a few months." I wanted to explain the process so she would know what to expect. "Animal blood dilutes the color more quickly than a diet of human blood. They'll turn amber first, then gold."

"Months?" Bella asked in an octave higher.

_More stress and anxiety now... _Jasper concluded. Even I could tell that. Jasper got ready to crouch, to counterattack if needed. This is the danger we had all waited for, the uncontrollable newborn ready to attack. I hoped it didn't come to that.

Bella's eyes shifted to Jasper, then Alice then me. We were watching Jasper. I really didn't want to fight Jasper again over Bella. This was getting monotonous.

Bella took a deep breath and calmly said, "No, I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in."

_She's calm? Just like that? A newborn can't do that. How the hell did she do that?_

_How the hell..? _Emmett mirrored Jasper's thoughts.

_What the._..?

Everyone was thinking the same thing. Carlisle was thinking incoherent thoughts, though fascination and amazement was at the top of the list.

"I don't know," I was wondering the same thing. I was dumbfounded. Though, I really shouldn't be, she was the most incredible thing I had ever met, even in vampire form she was surprising me.

"What question did I miss?" Bella asked again, calmly but with a frown.

I couldn't contain my happiness at her control, "Jasper wonders how you're doing it."

"Doing what?" Bella asked confused.

"Controlling your emotions, Bella. I've NEVER seen a newborn do that—stop an emotion in its tracks that way. You were upset, but when you saw our concern, you reined it in, regained power over yourself. I was preprared to help, but you didn't need it," _I don't get it._

"Is that wrong?" She asked. Silly Bella, she once again, didn't know her own brilliance.

_Wrong? _"No," _but how long can this hold? What will make her snap? Her human temper was hard to control, this is going to build and she's going to get someone. _Jasper thought to himself.

I stroked her arms absentmindedly, I was impressed. "It's very impressive, Bella, but we don't understand it. We don't know how long it can hold," voicing Jaspers concerns.

_She's fine! I want to know what she thinks of herself! _"But what do you think?" Alice asked, finally.

"I'm not sure," she said as she stared at herself once again. She looked at her lips again, she raised her hand to touch her face, what was she thinking? Her silence was still just as strong as ever. I sighed.

"Disappointed?" Bella asked sadly.

I laughed, realizing that I had sighed out loud, "Yes."

Her face fell.

_Edward, you're an idiot, she's dazzling just like I told you, and you're disappointed? _Alice snarled at me.

Jasper felt Bella's hurt and poised himself to help, if needed. They were all overreacting.

I wrapped my arms around Bella to reassure her that I wasn't disappointed in her beauty; I pressed my lips to her cheek. "I was rather hoping that I'd be able to hear your mind, now that it is more similar to my own. And here I am, frustrated as ever, wondering what could possibly be going on inside your head."

I felt her relax in my arms. "Oh, well, I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty," she joked with me. She was joking around? This was unheard of; she should be clawing to get out the door to satiate her unquenchable thirst for blood.

_How does she DO that? She's not supposed to be this controlled. Edward, get her hunting before she snaps. Or before I snap. _

I ignored Jasper for the moment. "Bella, you have _never_ been merely pretty," I growled at her. She never saw herself as I saw her, even as a beautiful durable vampire. I wanted to take her and kiss her again, but Jasper was like an annoying buzzing in my ear.

_Edward, please take her hunting, now! She's going to snap and then you'll really be mad at me. _

"All right, all right," I said to him out loud. Annoying sensitive vampire...

"What?" Bella asked.

"You're making Jasper more edgy by the second. He may relax a little when you've hunted."

She looked over at Jasper and saw the unease on his face. "Okay, let's hunt," she conceded. She unwrapped my arms from her while keeping one hand in mine as I led her to the window.


	3. First Hunt

I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyers does. Sniff, sniff...

First Hunt

"The window?" Bella asked with uncertainty. Silly Bella, she still didn't know her strength yet.

"It's the most convenient exit. If you're frightened I can carry you." I knew she wouldn't want to be carried; remembering that day so long ago when I first learned she fainted at the smell of blood.

"We have all eternity, and you're worried about the time it would take to walk out to the back door?"

No, the reason was our daughter was by the back door and I didn't want her to attack her. I frowned at her, "Renesmee and Jacob are downstairs," _and I don't need you killing him for imprinting before you've hunted, it would kill our daughter. _ She already loves him, too. I shuddered, but stopped before Bella caught that, her clear observance would definitely carry over to her new existence.

"Oh," she said with realization. "Is Renesmee...okay...with Jacob there?" she whispered at me. She had _no _idea how safe our daughter was with him.

"Trust me, she is perfectly safe. I know exactly what Jacob is thinking," I hated being in his mind. And I would be in there a lot now. Oh, the irony of it all. It wasn't so bad now, but I was already thinking of when she was older. Being in his head was going to be so much worse than being in Emmetts. This was my _daughter _not my sister.

"Of course," Bella said quietly as she looked to the ground. The first jump is always the most unnerving. Well, the first everything is the most unnerving, this was a day of firsts and I was glad to be able to share it with her. I was elated.

"Stalling?" I kidded with her.

"A little. I don't know how..." her voice trailed as she looked out the window, to the ground then to her tightly fitted ice-blue silk dress. I argued with Alice that that wasn't the best of choices, but Alice will be Alice.

"Watch me," I encouraged. I took a step out the window like I was taking a step. I landed perfectly on the balls of my feet. I looked up to see if Bella was going to follow. She nodded her head, took her first step and gracefully, more gracefully than I'd ever seen her do anything, land on the balls of her feet in those crazy stilettos Alice put her in. I was thoroughly impressed. She still continued to amaze me.

"Right. Easy," Bella said once she realized she'd made it.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"That was quite graceful-even for a vampire."

_Aw, man, the klutziness is gone! What am I gonna joke around with her about now?_

Emmett was as impressed as I was.

"_Thank _you," Bella responded; she may have been just as impressed. Then she took her shoes off and lobbed them right at Alice who gracefully caught them before they could pierce through the back wall. Again, the best I've ever seen her throw.

_Dude! She is so pitching for us at our next baseball game! _Emmett thought, also impressed with all of Bella's transformations so far.

"Her fashion sense hasn't improved as much as her balance. _ Does she not realize that she can run in those?_ Alice thought, she was disgruntled.

I took her hand; I couldn't stop being impressed with her improvements. I was questioning all of my disagreements with her about her being transformed, so far, everything was better than I had imagined. We ran together to the river. Alice's vision had finally come true, what she had shown Aro in Volterra. We would be together, running in the forest, hand in hand.

We stopped at the river to cross.

"Are we swimming?" she asked with a little panic in her voice.

"And ruin your pretty dress? No. We're jumping," I couldn't wait for her to react to this. And I couldn't have Alice kill me for getting that dress wet. Stupid silk.

Bella stood there with her lips pursed. "You first," she finally said.

I took one more look at her; I knew she could do this. I just had to show her first. I touched her cheek, stepped back with two steps, though I was exaggerating, I really didn't need any steps to jump across that small distance. I sailed through the air and landed softly again on the opposite riverbank.

"Show off," Bella muttered. This made me laugh; she was going to be able to show off for us as well. I couldn't wait.

Bella took five steps back. Her human memories were getting the best of her. Then she took a deep breath and stopped. I watched her scan the trees, then she took her first step, with it came a small ripping sound of fabric. More specifically, that stupid silk. She bent down and scowled at her dress then ripped the seams to match on either side. Alice was going to hate her for that, but she deserved it. I knew that dress was not a good idea. Hmmm...but I did like the improvements, I shook my head to focus. I heard the rest of the family laughing at the absurdity of it all. I also heard Jacob, but I ignored him as I laughed with the rest of them

_Ugh! No fashion sense! _Alice thought, her teeth too tightly clenched together to say anything out loud.

What was taking Bella so long, I wondered. "Bella? Do you want to watch again?" Was she ever going to cross?

I heard her take a deep breath, ran for the river and sailed further than I did. I lost her as she cleared past me and landed in a tree like a gymnast, laughing like I'd never heard her laugh before. She was happy. I found her as she swung nimbly from limb to limb to land quietly on her feet. _Show off, _I muttered to myself. She was showing me up. This was a strange, yet exhilarating, role reversal. I rather liked it. She was better than me at something.

"Was that good?" she had to ask?

"Very good," I tried controlling my excitement for her, but I failed, miserably.

"Can we do it again?" she asked.

This sobered me up. What was going through that head of hers? "Focus, Bella—we're on a hunting trip."  
"Oh, right. Hunting," she nodded with understanding, but she seemed to be sad that she couldn't go swinging through the trees again.

Well, if she wanted a challenge, she can have one. I grinned at her mischievously, "Follow me, if you can." I took off running at top speed; soon she overtook and blew past me. I couldn't keep up. I thought of Emmett and how, when we would play baseball, she would be faster than the ball he would hit. She would catch it better than I. Well for now, we'll see how strong she would be in a year. I kept an eye on her as she ran freer than I knew she ever had. We were almost out of Washington, I stopped, hoping she would too. "Bella..."

She sighed and turned around to race back to me.

"Did you want to stay in the country or were you planning to continue on to Canada this afternoon?" I asked with a smirk on my face. Running with her was better than running with her on my back, and I would have run to Canada with her if she so chose.

"This is fine, what are we hunting?"

"Elk. I thought something easy for your first time..." her eyes narrowed at me. Why? Elk were easy. Bears and lions were mean; she needed something tame to start out on.

"Where?" she asked impatiently, pulling me from my reverie. Finally she was feeling the pain of the thirst, she had waited too long to hunt.

"Now close your eyes," I told her. She was beautiful with her eyes closed. I stroked her cheek with out thinking about it. Her breathing sped up at my touch, hmm, interesting. If her heart were still beating it probably would have sped up, too. I would miss that, especially the blush that wouldn't come anymore with her speeding heartbeat. I had to focus myself away from Bella's beauty, the tempting silk dress... "Listen, what do you hear?"

She paused for a moment letting her senses take over. "By the creek, to the northeast?"

"Yes," finally, her sense of direction had kicked in. I smiled at this thought. "Now...wait for the breeze again and...what do you smell?" I smelled five, but I needed her to smell them.

Her nose wrinkled, I knew she caught scent of the herbivores. This is where the vegetarian part of our diet came in. I laughed at her expression. "I know—it takes some getting used to."

"Three?" she asked me. She was good at this, but she needed to be aware of all her options.

"Five. There are two more in the trees behind them."

"What do I do now?" she asked.

I smiled, "What do you feel like doing?" She was thinking about it, she needed to stop thinking; she needed her senses to completely take over. I coached her, "Don't think about it, just follow your instincts." My hand reluctantly left her face, I stepped back to let her hunt her first meal.

I watched as she opened her eyes, bounding towards her prey, then the wind shifted. She took off away from the Elk, towards...Damn! There were humans. I should have been more careful, I should have sniffed out to make sure there weren't any. I didn't think there would be any out this far. We were pretty remote from the rest of the world. Serious backpackers, no doubt. I had to follow her, she needed to be stopped. I couldn't have her take down humans. She would hate herself for that. I bounded after her hoping to cut her off before she got too close.

She suddenly stopped. She spun around and growled at me, the most gut wrenching guttural sound I couldn't ever imagine coming from her beautiful body. She crouched down as if to attack me. I raised my arms to embrace her as best I could to stop her before she fed on a human. The wind shifted again.

"I have to get away from here!" she spat at me, clearly holding her breath.

"_Can _you leave?" I was shocked, utterly and completely shocked. She had stopped herself _and _held her breath. This was her first hunt and she was restraining herself.

She didn't answer me as she fled as fast as ever from this hunt. She took off from the hunt? How was she doing that? She stopped herself from hunting...humans? What kind of newborn had we created? Carlisle would be most impressed. I ran after her to make sure she was okay. What was she thinking? I hated not reading her mind. Did she hate herself? Did she hate me? I struggled to keep up with her strength and stride, but I needed to check on her. She stopped again, so suddenly that I flew right past her. I spun around to meet up with her.

"How did you do that?" I knew that came out more demanding than I intended, but I couldn't stop myself.

"You let me beat you before, didn't you?" What? I was talking about the hunt and she thought I wanted to know how she beat me in running? I shrugged and shook my head as she opened her mouth to taste the air.

"Bella, how did you do it?" She was showing more restraint in the few hours she was alive than I had in several decades. I couldn't fathom this.

"Run away? I held my breath," she responded, almost nonchalantly, like we were discussing a bad smell rather than human blood that she was craving.

"But how did you stop hunting?"

"When you came up behind me...I'm so sorry about that," she apologized. She was apologizing for almost attacking me. She would never cease to amaze me.

"Why are you apologizing to _me_? I'm the one who was horribly careless. I assumed no one would be so far from the trails, but I should have checked first. Such a stupid mistake! _You _have nothing to apologize for," in this instance, she was diabolical.

"But I growled at you!" She exclaimed, like she was horrified for this reaction.

"Of course you did. That's only natural. But I can't understand how you ran away," and I couldn't. I needed her to help me understand her thinking. I was at a total loss at her thought process. I didn't even have that kind of restraint and I was decades old.

"What else could I do? It might have been someone I know!"

She stated this like this was logic lost on me. And it was. My thoughts were incoherent. I did the only thing I could do. I laughed. This was the only thing I could do that made sense in my head.

_"Why are you laughing at me?"_ She sounded hurt. This sobered me up again. She was about to snap, her needs still weren't taken care of, I needed her to hunt and soon. And I needed to assure her I wasn't laughing at her.

"I'm not laughing at you, Bella. I'm laughing because I am in shock. And I am in shock because I am completely amazed."

"Why?" she asked, calmly again.

"You shouldn't be able to do any of this. You shouldn't be so...so rational. You shouldn't be able to stand here discussing this with me calmly and coolly. And, much more than any of that, you should _not_ have been able to break off mid-hunt with the scent of human blood in the air. Even mature vampires have difficulty with that—we're always very careful of where we hunt so as not to put ourselves in the path of temptation. Bella, you're behaving like you're decades old, rather than hours old," I explained to her as much as to myself.

"Oh," she stated with a little shock.

I put my hands on her face again, I still wasn't over my shock and wonderment of my wonderful wife's control. "What I wouldn't give to be able to see into your mind for just this one moment." I probed her mind again, only meeting that same unpenatrable wall I'd always hit. So frustrating. I really, really wanted to know her thoughts this very moment.

As I stared into her ruby eyes trying to probe her mind one of our first conversations resurface.

"_How old are you Bella?"_

_ "I'm Seventeen."_

_ "You don't seem seventeen."_

_ She laughed._

_ "What?"_

_ "My mom always says I was born thirty five years old and that I get more middle aged every year." She laughed again. "Well, someone has to be the adult." _Maybe that was something else she had brought to this life. A decades old newborn when she was only hours old. Carlisle might like that theory. Well, might was an understatement. I continued on this thought, unable to break from her gaze as she ran her fingers down my face and then they stayed on my lips. Now what was on her mind?

"I thought I wouldn't feel this way for a long time? "But I still _want_ you."

My thoughts were incoherent again. I could not get my brain to wrap around what she was saying. She was a newborn, thirsty and she wanted...sex? I blinked trying to gain some coherency. "How can you even concentrate on that? Aren't you unbearably thirsty?"

She didn't answer me instead she swallowed, sighed and closed her eyes as she regained her focus. I dropped my hands to let her concentrate. Yes, I wanted what she wanted, but I needed her to satiate her thirst. I watched as she ever so slightly moved her head to the east, she smelled something. Her eyes popped open. Then she ran to her first prey. I followed closely behind. She was hunting a mountain lion. I was eager to see this. Evidently she liked what I liked. I smiled at the thought of shared mountain lion hunts. I watched as she gracefully climbed the boughs of the tall tree. She completely let her senses take over. I quietly watched from a safe distance as she stalked prey while the large cat stalked his. As she jumped down on the large beast my breath caught. They fell to the forest floor. After protecting _fragile_ Bella for two years watching her wrestle a mountain lion was well, almost excruciating. I leaned against a tree to keep my balance and I had to keep reminding myself that she was durable; she would win. I watched with horror as the beast raked his paws across her dress. Oh, Alice was NOT going to like that. Bella didn't flinch; she wrestled the big cat and sunk her new teeth into the neck. She threw him off of her like a rag once he was drained. She turned to me wiping her face on the back of her hand. She looked like Emmett after he's fought a grizzly.

"Hmm," was all I could say as I wrapped my head around what I just bore witness to.

"I guess I could have done better," she replied as she looked over herself and tried to run her fingers through her knotted hair.

"You did perfectly fine," I could finally tell her once I settled down my nerves.

She raised her eyebrows at me looking for an explanation.

"It goes against the grain, letting you wrestle with lions. I was having an anxiety attack the whole time," I admitted to her.

"Silly."

"I know. Old habits die hard." I let my eyes rove over her now ripped and soiled dress. "I like the improvements to your dress, though." And I did.

Bella looked at me with questioning eyes. "Why am I still thirsty?"

"Because you're young."

She sighed. "And I don't suppose there are any other mountain lions nearby."

I felt the same way once I caught the scent of deer. "Plenty of deer, though."

Bella grimaced, "They don't smell as good."

_No, I agree, they don't, but that's because they're _"Herbivores. The meat eaters smell more like humans," I explained. _Very little._

"Not that much like humans," she agreed with my internal thought.

"We could go back," I teased with her. "Whoever it was out there, if they were men, they probably wouldn't even mind death if you were the one delivering it," I said as I roamed over her barely clothed body. I knew I wouldn't have minded being attacked by this angel. Does she know how beautiful she is? _Focus, Edward! You're hunting. _"In fact, they would think they were already dead and gone to heaven the moment they saw you."

She rolled her eyes and snorted at me, "Let's go hunt some stinking herbivores."

We followed the scent of the deer; I had caught and drained two of the stinking herbivores as she drained a large buck, not being any neater in this endeavor as in her first. I felt her eyes on me as I went for my third deer. As I sucked it dry I wondered what she was looking at. Why her facial expression was that of...tenderness?...Love? What was she thinking? I would _never_ get that answer questioned. I wanted to hear her thoughts. I ached to hear them.

"No longer thirsty?" I asked her as I threw my deer from me.

She shrugged at me, "You distracted me. You're much better at it than I am."

"Centuries of practice," I said with a smile. I looked at her again; I couldn't believe she was mine.

"Just one," she corrected me.

Yes, she was right, just one. I laughed at this correction. "Are you done for today? Or did you want to continue?" I wanted to make sure she was as well satiated as could be for the meeting of our daughter. Both of their needs now came first for me.

Bella thought over this for a few seconds before answering, "Done, I think." Her face reflected more thoughts then she said, "I want to see Renesmee."

I was ready for her to meet Renesmee. I held out my hand so we could go into our new world together. She turned towards me, stared into my eyes and started stroking my cheek, my face; then she wrapped her arms around me. I wanted to hold her, too. But it wasn't enough. Now that we were alone and her thirst was taken care of I wanted to return to that kiss we started back at the house. And since we were alone I could really share a kiss without any barriers. Just like before her fingers knotted into my hair, I resisted the urge to push her away, I didn't have to anymore. The trees, the deer, the smells, they all fell away. Bella was my only focus at the moment. I wanted her, urgently I pressed harder into her, and I felt her reciprocate into me. I was vaguely aware of the sensation of falling onto the ground. She landed on top of me. I didn't care.

"Oops, I didn't mean to tackle you like that."

I laughed. I was completely intoxicated by her. It was like our first kiss after we visited the meadow all over again. She had tackled me there, too, but this time I could allow her to. Restraint was no longer necessary.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Of course I was okay. "Slightly better than _okay_," I told her. I let her lay on top of me; I reached to stroke her face again. The electricity still hummed between us, I reveled in her beauty and my luck of having a wife and a _daughter._ This broke me from my reverie. "Renesmee?" I spoke her name as a question. I knew Bella would only need to hear her name to remind her of her request of seeing her.

She remained on my chest as her expressions played out what she wanted to do and what she needed to do. I was voting for staying here and letting her finish what she wanted to do. I wanted it too, but I was leaving it up to her choice. As always it was her choice. _Stay, Bella, stay _reverberated in my head. But now that she didn't need to sleep I knew we had all night to show our love for each other. I rubbed her back in small circles as she contemplated her choice.

"Renesmee," she finally decided as she jumped onto her feet, pulling me with her. She impressed me with her strength again.


End file.
